Is San Diego becoming a hotbed for app developers?

Alex Rolek of web developer Tiny Factory writes code on his laptop as he and co-worker Justen Palmer program an anonymous communications program based on Google Maps at the AT&T Mobile App Hackathon on June 4. — Charlie Neuman

San Diego has long been a leader in mobile technology, hosting such high-profile companies as Qualcomm, Kyocera International and Novatel Wireless.

Soon, the city may also become famous for mobile software applications, one of the fastest-growing areas of computing.

In recent months, a fledgling network of application developers has gained traction, getting together at coffee shop meetups and “hackathons” — larger events where developers can network, share knowledge and strive to create new apps in a limited time.

What's a hackathon?

Since the late ’90s, software programmers and computer engineers have been using the word “hackathon” to describe gatherings where they socialize, innovate and freely exchange ideas and expert knowledge without the barriers imposed by the telephone or email.

But above all, they attend the events to “hack.” No, not in the devious break-into-government-database way that most people identify with the word “hack.” To a hackathon’s participants, hacking means to plant your face in front of a computer screen, immerse yourself in programming and belt out a piece of software that accomplishes something.

An event can last anywhere from a few hours to several days and can draw hundreds of people, as happens at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York.

Hackathons can be rowdy things, reminiscent of when a fictionalized Mark Zuckerberg and his college friends spent a night programming in the 2010 film “The Social Network.” More often, though, hackathons are dominated by the developers’ quiet intensity. And although real life is rarely driven by a brooding electronic soundtrack, they are all determined to make the most of their hackathon time and pull the next killer app from their myriad lines of code.

These programmers are developing apps that let users do everything from exchange short, anonymous phone calls to find the cheapest place to grab lunch.

“We’re only limited by our creativity,” said San Diego-based developer Alex Rolek, 28. “At this point we just need to come together and develop each other’s ideas. We have absolutely everything we need to make it happen in San Diego.”

This potential to transform the region into an app development hub was evident on Saturday when Qualcomm hosted the AT&T Mobile App Hackathon. In less than six hours of programming, about 20 teams churned out fully functional apps for Android phones, the iPhone, iPad and BlackBerry.

Some, like Neha Karnam and Siddartha Reddy, both 25, didn’t need the full six hours to work on their app. The pair toiled for less than four hours developing an app that lets users organize and interact with a calendar of events in any given area. They didn’t work at a feverish rush to get their work done early, but seemed cool and collected, only contributing the sound of keystrokes and occasional muttering to the event’s generally muted atmosphere.

Karnam and Reddy’s app, Event Finder, would go on to take one of the hackathon’s top prizes — an Apple iPad 2.

Other apps developed at the hackathon included a simple photo editing utility that lets you distort pictures, one designed to help dancers remain steady by playing a tone when their movements aren’t as smooth as they’d like and a library of step-by-step information on how to program an app.

The three person team from San Diego based social networking site Cloud Girlfriend as they work on a 2 minute random call application. Left to Right: David Fuhriman, Kusno Mudiarto and Matt Baker. — Charlie Neuman

The pace at which participants were able to create their apps is a testament to mobile programming’s increasing accessibility and potential for growth. Coding languages like HTML5 are easier for more people to understand, and development packages like Red Foundry and appMobi eliminate or reduce coding.

“HTML5 can simplify mobile app creation,” said Alex Donn from AT&T’s developer program, which presented the hackathon at Qualcomm. “In 15 minutes I can have an app working. It’ll be simple, but it’ll work.”

Keeping it easy to program apps is an interest shared by both developers and companies like AT&T and Qualcomm, who run networks that provide knowledge, assistance and often technology so developers can test their programs with the latest chipsets and devices.

In his announcement about HTC’s own developer program during the Uplinq mobile apps conference last week, CEO Stephen Chou said the industry is entering a “golden age” of mobile development, highlighting the increasing importance being placed on the relationship between phone makers and those who build the software that will define a user’s experience.

“There is a great opportunity to leverage the community in San Diego and turn their hobbies into commercial successes,” said William Frantz, ecosystem development staff manager for Qualcomm.

Hackathons and events like them allow the developer community — and corporations — to identify talent, says Bin Li, managing partner at Ansir Innovation Center, which invests resources into early-stage companies and helped present the hackathon.

“Who is the programmer that is quiet with his head down in the computer the whole time?” Li said. “You want that guy.”